The present invention relates to internal combustion engines, and especially to fuel injection type engines in which the liquid fuel has been saturated with a gas for injection into the engine.
In the past, a great variety of internal combustion engine fuel systems have been provided for use on internal combustion engines in vehicles and for other purposes. Typically, a hydrocarbon fueled engine might have a carburetor in which a liquid fuel is vaporized in a fixed or variable venturi as air from the atmosphere is fed through the venturi, drawing liquid vapor into the intake manifold and into the cylinders of the engine. Diesel engines more commonly provide a fuel injection system in which the fuel is injected directly into the combustions chambers under high pressure and does not use a spark to ignite the charge being injected into the cylinder. Typically, air has already been drawn into the cylinder and compressed at the time the fuel is injected thereinto. It is also common to provide a fuel injection system for more conventional spark ignition internal combustion engines which work at a lower combustion chamber pressure in order to improve the efficiency of the engine.
The present invention is directed primarily at internal combustion engines, both diesel and spark ignited engines, which have fuel injection systems and provides for the saturation of the liquid hydrocarbon fuel with oxygen or air under pressure through a fuel saturator. The fuel saturator requires a dense, but slightly porous stone or other material which forces a gas under pressure into the liquid fuel. It has been common in the past to saturate liquids with gases, such as carbon dioxide, to form soda water or to increase the gas content in malt drinks, such as beer. Saturated liquids, however, have to be maintained under pressure until just prior to use. The present invention utilizes a stone similar to the one used by brewers, but which has been enclosed in a casing with a spiralling passageway in order to increase the rate and saturation of the liquid fuel with a gas.
Other prior art type systems include the use of various systems for bubbling air through a liquid fuel in order to vaporize the fuel, as well as a variety of other circuits directed primarily at vaporizing the fuel by the passing of a gas therethrough. These systems do not attempt to saturate the liquid with a gas, but rather to vaporize the liquid in the air, and are used primarily in carburetor type fuel systems. It has also been known to feed gases into a carburetor at the same time the hydrocarbon fuel is being vaporized therein and various fuel additives have been added to fuels to modify the fuel being fed to the fuel system. An advantage of the present invention is that the hydrocarbon liquid fuel can be saturated with a number of gases which can then be used on a fuel injection system without the individual injectors being broken by air or another gas getting into the fuel injectors. That is, most fuel injectors on internal combustion engines will not operate if air gets trapped in the injectors, so that gases cannot normally be fed with a fuel through a fuel injected system of an engine.